"The Department of State has designated three Daesh-affiliated groups – Daesh-West Africa, Daesh-Philippines, and Daesh-Bangladesh – as Specially Designated Global Terrorists," the US State Department release said. "The Department has also designated four other Daesh-affiliated groups and two Daesh-affiliated leaders."
The four groups are Daesh-Somalia, Jund al-Khilafah-Tunisia, Daesh-Egypt, the Maute Group, and the Daesh-affiliated leaders are Mahad Moalim from Nigeria and Abu Musab al-Barnawi from Somalia.
.@StateDeptCT designates seven ISIS-affiliated groups and two senior leaders. Full details here: https://t.co/XSe1SRnudv pic.twitter.com/Jv9UvNo0q2
— State Dept CT Bureau (@StateDeptCT) February 27, 2018
"We've designated these groups and individuals to illuminate ISIS's [Daesh] global network, and to emphasize that our collective campaign against ISIS is far from over. These designations will deny the ISIS network the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks."
— State Dept CT Bureau (@StateDeptCT) February 27, 2018
READ MORE: US Choppers Reportedly Transport Daesh Terrorists to Syrian Training Camp
The announcement took place amid Russian Defense Ministry's statements concerning the US-led coalition engagement in the training of former Daesh and Nusra Front terrorists on a base near al-Hasakah in order to create the new militant formation called the "New Syrian Army."
Recently, on February 21, an anonymous source from al-Hasakah told Sputnik that local witnesses had seen US helicopters landing on the territory of a local prison and then leaving. According to the source, the flights were aimed at the evacuation of radicals.
The US-led coalition of more than 70 members is leading military operations against the Daesh group in Syria and Iraq. The coalition's activities in Iraq are conducted in collaboration with Iraqi officials, but those in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the United Nations Security Council.